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Jordan Ferrin

Jordan Ferrin has traveled the world. He is a woodwind player, educator, writer, and composer. His mission in life is to give, through both music and the lessons of his travels.

About Me

”A sax man makes his debut by taking an impressionistic trip around the world to unleash his creativity in new ways. It’s got that seeker kind of vibe the jazzbos of yore had when they were romping about in India.” — Chris Spector, Midwest Record: review of Tales of Transcendence

California-born woodwind player Jordan Ferrin spent years traveling the world as a cruise ship musician. His worldly experiences inspired The Jordan Ferrin Storyband, a project that combines melodic-groove jazz and live storytelling into an experience greater than the music and stories alone. The debut album Tales of Transcendence was released in March 2022, accompanied by the Storyband Travel Blog, dedicated to the full stories behind every piece of music recorded by the group.

Jordan works as a freelance performer, educator, and music-education researcher in Southern California. He has performed with Grammy-nominated vocalist Josie James, vocalist Frieda Lee, the Marlonius Jazz Orchestra, vocalist Anthony Bernasconi, and electro-jazz artist Vatomico. He is a teaching artist with the Symphonic Jazz Orchestra, and has performed at venues including The Baked Potato in Los Angeles and Kansas Smittty’s in London.

Jordan is also a published researcher. You can find his article “Regarding Musical Understanding and Aural Learning from the Introduction of Audiation to Novice Jazz Students” in Vol. 4 of Jazz Education in Research and Practice.

My Jazz Story

I loved jazz even before I traveled the entire world. In much of my travels I was listening to jazz of all shapes and sizes. World-travel brought me experiences I struggle to put into words. With jazz in my ears for those experiences, I transcended myself time and time again to understand fundamental truths about everything else.... Given improvisation, and reverence of the moment, jazz is among the most creative forms of artistry and among the most honest, convincing conveyers of the human spirit. Years of study are spent by jazz musicians to express themselves on their instrument(s) of choice, yet the journey never ends for those who tap into the limitless creative potential of the art form. More music can be mastered, and as more music is mastered the potential for musical intersubjectivity in live-performance grows. As the potential for musical intersubjectivity in live-performance grows, so does the potential for social intersubjectivity, stretching beyond the bandstand and recording studio into the minds of listeners. As social intersubjectivity grows, so does the understanding of a human's oneness with themselves and with their world. With its own infinitely creative potential, jazz has the power to connect us to our perceived realities such that whatever we perceive we receive creatively. If the Universe is in a constant state of creation and change, then receiving our lives creatively is among the most authentic, resilient, and thereby fulfilling ways to live. Thus jazz is not just a representation OF the human spirit, but a catalyst FOR it.